them have been following since 2008, back to 2004 when he made that first speech at the democratic convention. something you don't see often in this social media age. this speech that was so finely crafted it and thought out by him and his staff and not just his speech writer but some of the people he dependent on most throughout this remarkable journey from the time he first came on to the public conscientiousness. it reflected where he is right now by the people who he's closest to him. he talked about being a community organizer in chicago and getting his starter. they talked about the things he left on the table that he's very aware of this divided country. he touched on that as well. mostly, they say he has been the

one among them who's gotten to the point of acceptance of where they are. while he's popular, they lost this election in a spectacular fashion. he wanted to sound this hopeful note and wanted to go back to what got the 18,020,000 people people -- 18,000 or 20,000 people here. it is the big picture that he still believes and one he still believes with their help can be reality. >> chris matthew, i always listen of what you said after the speech tonight on live television. >> you dog. [ laughs ] >> was that he can still -- you also found a highly political speech cloaked and some beautiful language. >> i thought he made the point that i am going to be staying in there fighting and not going to quit. i am going to defend science

behind climate change concerns and with cuba and everything. he made it clear that he will stay in town. >> people forget about the celebration of this. once there was an african-american guy with an odd african name. he's just been beaten in a race in south chicago, south side, by bobby rush and he just been beaten. he decided he's going to run statewide and i am going to drive in the suburbs by myself with a car and with a map next to me. today he was too generous, he said the american people did everything. some people had to walk forward and take a chance to lead and i think he did that. for all kinds of good fortune came his way because he did that. he had the guts to say i can win

statewide and beat clinton and i can beat general mccain and the president of the united states, he turned out to be a two-term president and a popular one. it took a decision by him to risk it all. >> he exhorted the crowd. >> go run and do the basic gut work. >> that was more though than just the specific lessons. it touched what is really one of the most fundamental fault line of american politics which is participation. the outcome determines on what group of people vote. and the presidential year verses the off year electoral. the electoral when he was running.

>> states legislature. >> exactly. >> and so what holds civic of part of the speech. and the really touching moment of the speech, of course. >> i am going to get to that right now. you think you are getting off that easy. whatever is said about the party has taken and whatever that's said about the president as a politician, they'll be talking about this first family for a good long time. here is the president on that topic of his wife tonight. >> michelle, the girl of the south side, for the past 25 years, you have not only been my wife and the mother of my children, you have been my best friend.

>> it is part of a killer moment. >> it was hard not to tear up a little bit when you saw them all tearing up at this moment. >> but, remember that image. the image of those five african-americans that barack obama and michelle and the girl and grandma and filling the role of the first family of the united states as they walk across the south and getting on the helicopter to fly away and as they sit the front row at the state of the union and all of the important moment and seeing that, it is one of the most important legacies of the obama's presidency. it changes what's possible of america and rearranges the furniture inside our head. visual images are powerful, that's going to be with us for -- >> with that, thanks to both

chris', the one in new york and the one in chicago. >> coming up after our next break, the busy news day of the best of today's action on capitol hill including testimony from trump's pick for attorney generals as "the 11th hour" continues.

my question is very simple is grabbing a woman by her genitel, is that sexual harassment? >> yes. >> he's the first trump nominee to start this vetting process on capitol hill and the work of the senate judiciary. joining me here is our eugene and charlie syke is here with us.

before we start this, i want to hear from senator sessions on the subject of race. >> i hope that i have shown you of the character that created of me was not accurate. it was not accurate then and it is not accurate now. and have no doubt it existed in a systematic and powerful and negative way onto the people and great millions of people in the south, particularly of our country -- i know that was wrong. i know we needed to do better. we can never go back. eugene, you said on the air tonight when journalist reported about him, they called him jefferson -- >> he's a 70-year-old man born in alabama.

everyone is going to see this through their own prism. >> people are going to remember whether it is 30 years ago, he was up for federal judgeship and he did not make it through because of racist things he had said. today he made a pretty force full and perhaps convincing case that the person who was portrayed back then was not jeff sessions. he said a lot of things that people will find encouraging. there was one issue that stuck out for me which was voters suppression. it was unclear to me from today's hearing whether he understood why people exercise about voter id or other subscriptions in various states or why federal courts are so exercising about these because they see them as targeted

attempts and keeping minorities from voting. he did not seem very excited about that or really comprehend it and that's particularly dangerous i think in the attorney general would have to enforce federal voting laws. >> charlie syke, through the prism of friends and family are watching this, starting with the level of interest and hearing this today and our story that was our lead story tonight about donald trump. >> yeah, the light comes to you fast, this was not jeff sessions to the road. this story has been stepped on and the democrats will not be able to block him. we thought this is the donnybrook which obviously not going to be. all the oxygen is taken out of the room by what's going on with donald trump.

by tomorrow morning, we'll be talking about this russian story of the incredibly bizarre that we are in and weird spy story. keep in mind, those allegations are unverified and in a year we still have this problem of what is believable and reliable. this is going to really muddy the water and it is going to suck a lot of attention over the next 48 hours. >> how much attention will it get in wisconsin. >> oh, huge, if you have the president of the united states who's potentially compromised by russian spies. that's a huge story. i mean, on the other hand, you know that the trump's white house is going to be pushing back and labeling all the fake news and it is interesting how trump's world has decided and pushing back on this.

you know it is going to be hard to get words in edge wise frankly. >> eugene, president obama, talked about how we need a common set of facts and interesting how fake news is now a known thing that people are aware of and talk about and now trump's tweets tonight puts us in this bucket. >> yeah, fake news, i fear is coming to news i don't like or i don't want to believe regardless of whether it had any factual bases. we used to have one and we don't have one now, you know, all we can do is put it out there. >> charlie and your hopes and dreams for the next nine days until the time when donald trump puts his hands on a bible and takes the oath? >> well, i was struck by eugene by what president obama said to get the need out of the bubble

and find the common language. it is there and between now and inauguration, look, i hope that the trump folks understand at some point and how many times we have said this that this president has to realize that he's going to be the president. there is new polls out suggesting that his ratings are back to where he was. he's got real trust problems and credibility problem. at some point, you will hope that donald trump will step up and understand the magestmagesty the role. >> we'll hear him say those words at his first news conference since july. thank you to two of our friends and two pros for being with us tonight. gene robertson and -- coming up next as "the 11th hour" still

continues.

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we prefer secluded. what is the desert? it's absolutely what you need right now. absolutely scottsdale. you were the change. you answer people's hopes and because of you by almost every measure, america is a better, stronger place than it was when we started. >> barack obama first there in '08 as he prepared to begin his life at the white house and tonight as he prepares to leave. earlier this evening, i spoke with the presidential historians about the two-term democrat who gave his farewell address tonight, doris.

>> your entire role in our lives is to take a step back and assess what just happened, consider the facts that we are still assessing the presidency of your old boss of lyndon johnson of this yearbooks coming out of hoover and nixon and it still goes on. with that said, how can you assess the two-term presidency of barack obama. >> i think there are two different definitions in the dictionary for your legacy. >> if we look at the near term of what he's leaving to his successor, he encouraged an economy that was free full of housing market and by the end of his eight years, there were more jobs and the housing market has stabilized and the autoindustry has been recovered and saved and

the new york terms, he conducted his presidency with a certain dignity and the grace of the way he handled the tragedies of sandy hook and the no drama and the lack of scandal. that's clear. as a symbolism of becoming the first african-american to be president. the long-term and that becomes more complicated and that's what historians will have to figure out 50 years from now and it will depend a lot of his signature healthcare thing stay or the climb change agreement that he forged in paris remains or go away or the executive order on pollution be undone or what will happen in syria and the iran and nuclear deal. >> he gets knocked in terms of being a good sales man. i heard the journalist, saying that the polls don't give him

any credit for following up his campaign promises. he is celebrated as a tower communicator could be a bad sales man. is he guilty of leading from the head and not the heart? >> well, it is interesting, you know, the bully -- making it harder for him or any other president in the old days where it is just three networks covering you, you can write pamphlets and now you give a speech, you need a sound byte and the pun dents that are undoing. that form of communication, he was able to win a second term so he communicated something to the american people. not enough of what the

healthcare bill was all about, of what he had accomplished and what the democratic party stood for. the election turning out a way he wished it had not. >> of your interview with him. it is quite clear that he wants to be remembered among other things as a writer. for this cerebral side, what president would you think he would liked to be remembered with? >> the way grant left memoirs that we still think of today and that's his ultimate chance to reshape of his presidency but rather what was liked to be a president. he's an intellectual looking inside. he was less of an extrovert that he does have that intellectual side.

it should be a major part of what he wants to leave behind. >> present hour and present day, i know how often it happens among us and non historians, how many times a day during this campaign and in the president-elect period of, donald trump, have you said to yourself, my goodness, we have not seen this happens before. >> factually, we never saw a campaign that was up ended quite this way and yes, we did not think harry truman would win and he won and fdr -- never as dark and understanding the ground rules of the election were

changed. the ground game did not matter as much and communication was different because of twitter. social media has changed the nature of what campaigns are like and maybe the nature of what the presidency is like. the unpredictability of the campaign makes you have to say to historians, whoa, buckle your seat belts, we are in for something interesting. >> doris, thank you as always. >> you are welcome as always. >> i said our last break is our last break. after which we'll be back to talk about ahead for tomorrow when "the 11th hour" continues. un-stop right there!

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last thing before we go here, president-elect trump's first press conference in 168 days is scheduled for tomorrow. that's not the only major event for this schedule. there are four cabinet hearings in the senate including a secretary of state and a position fifth in line for succession of the presidency and we can assume a large portion of that will involve rex tillerson's relationship with russia and putin. it will take one republican to vote against tillerson to block the nomination. it is rare for the nominee to be rejected boo i the senate. since 1977, only six out of 109 nominations failed and only one of those was voted against and the rest withdrew.

>> we'll be here for all of it starting at 9:00 a.m. see you then. for now, that does it for this f that does it for us. joy reed picks up our coverage next. the baton is yours, joy, good evening. in fact, there are four cabinet it's the lead story in wednesday's usa today. the document includes accusations that moscow obtained salacious info of trump. u.s. spies warn prez-elect. we'll break it down and president obama's spirited